Suicides across the military have steadily increased since 2013 according to the Department of Defense. But a naval clinic on Joint Base Andrews has a secret weapon that can sniff out members dealing with extreme stress.
Every day, Senior Chief Brad greets sailors and marines as they enter a military clinic for their regular doctor’s appointments. Throughout the day, he makes his rounds and visits patients sitting in the waiting area, cuddling with them briefly. If he senses they are down, he takes action.
But he’s no medical professional. He’s a golden retriever yellow lab mix initially trained as a seeing-eye dog, a post-traumatic stress disorder therapy dog and, now, a stress dog.
As suicides across the military have steadily increased since 2013, according to the Department of Defense (DOD), a naval clinic on Joint Base Andrews in Maryland has found a secret weapon to sniff out military members dealing with extreme stress – a dog.
